How does $15 speed up an HSBC payment?

[Anonymous]

Seriously. On their website, there is an option to pay "standard" or "express". the standard payment usually takes around 3 days to clear and post, etc....while the "express" option posts the payment to your account that same day.

Now this sounds fine and good but the "express" is $15 extra. I guess I could understand REALLY needing to use it if you forgot to pay and your payment was the next or the same day, then yeah, I could see using the "express" option.

My question is....what is it, for the $15, that express works faster and posts that same day?

It is all done electronically and computerized ....so what gives? Does the $15 speed up the electric current in the computers? Does it make someone push buttons faster? No.

Why not have the "express" delivery be the only option? And for free? Or is it that HSBC sees this scam as a way to milk more money out of sub-primers?

[Anonymous]

I think its a good idea. Most people that have an Orchard Bank or HSBC card are building or rebuilding there credit up. So it teaches you to pay early rather than wait till the last second.

Message Edited by Justn on 07-26-2008 05:14 PM

[Anonymous]

There is no such thing as a financial institution in this day and age that isn't thinking of every tiny little way they can turn every screw on you for a extra dime. None of them.

[unknown_entity]

For every dollar you make there are 300 million people out there trying to figure out a way to get a penny of it.  The $15 doesn't speed up the transaction, it's just a way for them to take advantage of someone who is in a position to be taken advantage of. 

[FretlessMayhem]

It's purely a money-maker on their part. I don't think the software does anything different.

[Anonymous]

HSBC does not allow your payments to post on Sat or Sun if they are due on those days.

If  your payment is due, say Sunday and you waited til Sunday to pay it,  the earliest standard would let you pay would be Monday. That would make you late and they would charge you for it. You would then have to use the express pay to make sure you didn't get the late charge so it would post for Sunday.

Message Edited by stef37 on 07-26-2008 06:52 PM

[Anonymous]

Here's another take on it.

ACH transactions take 2-3 business days to clear.  When you make a standard payment online, the bank waits for the payment to clear (meaning, they wait until they receive the funds through the clearinghouse system) and then they post the payment to your account.

When you make an express payment, they still receive the funds 2-3 business days later, because that payment takes the same amount of time to clear as the standard payment.  However, they credit your account the same day you initiate the payment with them.

In other words, the bank gives you credit on your account for funds they have not yet received.  This involves a certain amount of risk.  What if your payment is returned as NSF?

When a financial institution takes on additional risk, they expect to be compensated for it.  That's what that $15 represents.  It is compensation for the additional risk they assume when they post a payment to your account before they actually receive the funds.

[Anonymous]

All my credit card payments post pretty much within a day or two and this is sometimes before they withdrawals show up as pending or posted in my BOA account. IE: I paid HSBC on Thursday and the payment is posted as processed on the HSBC site, yet the money has not been taken from BOA account (or showing as pending). So I don't think HSBC has the cash from BOA yet and I didn't use express pay.

[Anonymous]

And there is still no more human involvement either way. Do you think this system was contrived for banks to allow a way for people to make payments just under the wire out of the kindness of their hearts? They charge you a late fee so you are not charged a late fee? If they charge a fee to cover risks, I wonder if $15 is their average loss on such a transaction. I think not; probably way not.

30 years ago I might be able to call my bank and ask Fred to hold up on posting a note until Tuesday and I could expect Fred to do that for me. Today, under the same circumstances I could only expect to be run thru with a double-edged sword. What has changed in 30 years? Greed. And yes, the customer is much more willing to walk away from an obligation today I think so a bank's thinking changes for this reason as well. Overall it’s all about………………..

MEEEE! MEEEEE! MEEEEE! MEEEEE! MEEEEE!

Now this isn’t about everybody by any stretch (though the gap is closing) but it certainly seems to be the case about most every institution. I wouldn't trust a bank to do a kind and humanly thing today as far as I could hurl one.

[Anonymous]

I don't know if it is the same system. I imagine something extra goes into the express payment, even if it some software program that allows that payment to be made. The simple solution is to not use express pay. I also don't pay by phone, because they want you to pay for that too.